Advisory Council

The Putting Families First: Good Jobs for All Advisory Council is comprised of more than 40 leaders in academia, philanthropy, labor, policy, religion and other fields. The Advisory Council guides and supports the campaign to put a bold jobs agenda for communities with the highest unemployment and lowest wages at the center of the national debate. You can read more about the Putting Families First campaign here.

Michael Brune

Executive Director

Sierra Club

Michael Brune has been Sierra Club’s executive director since 2010. Under Brune’s leadership, Sierra Club has grown to more than two million supporters and is at the forefront of the drive to move beyond fossil fuels to clean energy while also protecting America’s remaining wild places. Brune is a nationally recognized writer, speaker, and commentator on energy and environmental issues.

Dan Cantor

National Director

Working Families Organization

Dan Cantor helped found the Working Families Party of New York, and now serves as the ​National Director of Working Families. With organizational partners across the country, Working Families fights for progressive policy reforms and backs political leaders who share its commitment to equality and democracy.

John Carr

Director of the Initiative on Catholic Thought and Public Life

Georgetown University

John Carr is the director of the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life at Georgetown University. He is also Washington correspondent of America Magazine. During the 2012-2013 academic year he held a residential fellowship at the Institute of Politics of Harvard University. Prior to that he served for over 20 years as director of the Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Charlene Carruthers

National Director

Black Youth Project 100 (BYP100)

Charlene A. Carruthers is a Black queer feminist organizer, writer and national director of the Black Youth Project 100 (BYP100), an activist member-led organization of Black 18-35 year olds dedicated to creating justice and freedom for all Black people. Charlene has over 10 years of experience in social justice movement work.

Iva E. Carruthers

General Secretary

Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference

The Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference is a 501c3 and U.N. NGO network focused on national and global social justice issues from an African American interdenominational faith tradition. She has a long history of engagement in educational and community development initiatives and justice ministry in the United States, Caribbean, South America and Africa; is Professor Emeritus at Northeastern Illinois University and was founding President of Nexus Unlimited, an information and educational technology firm.

Juan Cartagena

President & General Counsel

LatinoJustice PRLDEF

Juan Cartagena is a constitutional and civil rights attorney who is the President & General Counsel of LatinoJustice PRLDEF, one of the nation’s leading civil rights public interest law offices that represents Latinas and Latinos throughout the country and works to increase their entry into the legal profession.

Peter Dreier

Occidental College

Peter Dreier teaches at Occidental College. Peter Dreier has been involved in urban policy as a scholar, a government official, a journalist, and an advocate for reform for more than three decades. He has written widely on American politics and public policy, specializing in urban politics and policy, housing policy, community development, and community organizing.

Mark Dyen

Executive Consultant

Conservation Services Group

Mark Dyen is co-founder of Conservation Services Group, a non-profit energy conservation and renewable energy company serving utility clients and public agencies in 24 states. At CSG he has provided thought leadership support for strategic direction and planning. He represents CSG in regional and national-level discussions focused on advancing energy efficiency.

Gaetana (Tana) Ebbole

Vice President, Poverty

The JPB Foundation

At JPB, Tana is responsible for the development, implementation and continuous refinement of all aspects of the JPB Foundation’s poverty initiatives. Prior to joining JPB in 2015, Tana was chief executive officer for over 18 of her the 25 years with the Children’s Services Council of Palm Beach County.

Peter Edelman

Professor of Law

Georgetown Law Center

Peter Edelman is the Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Law and Public Policy and Faculty Director, Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality where he teaches constitutional law and poverty law and is faculty director of the Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality.

Richard Eidlin

Co-founder and Vice President of Policy and Campaigns

American Sustainable Business Council

Richard directs the American Sustainable Business Council’s federal and state-based policy and advocacy campaigns. Richard has worked at the intersection of business and policy for 30 years with time at the UN Environment Programme, the Apollo Alliance, solar energy industry and NYC government. He is adjunct faculty at the University of Denver and serves on the Advisory Board of the State Innovation Exchange.

Frank Farrow

Director

Center for the Study of Social Policy

Frank Farrow has served as CSSP’s director since 2001. In that role, he has helped build the organization’s capacity for policy analysis and research, as well as technical assistance to federal and state governments and local communities. With CSSP’s board and leadership team, Farrow has focused CSSP on work that has a clear tie to improved results for children, families and communities.

Alexandra Flores-Quilty

President

United States Student Association

Alexandra Flores-Quilty is the nationally elected President of the United States Student Association (USSA). She represents a membership of 1.5 million college students across the United States. Alexandra was formerly a student at the University of Oregon, Chair of the Oregon Student Association and then the USSA Vice President. She is now based in DC working for issues regarding education justice and free universal education.

Robert M. Franklin

James T. & Berta R. Lane Professor of Moral Leadership

Emory University

Dr. Robert Michael Franklin, Jr. is the James T. and Berta R. Laney Professor of Moral Leadership at Emory University (Atlanta) and Director of the Religion Department of the Chautauqua Institution. He is also president emeritus of Morehouse College where he served as the tenth president of the nation’s largest private, four-year liberal arts college for men from 2007 through 2012.

Andrew Friedman

Co-Executive Director

Center for Popular Democracy

Andrew Friedman is the Co-Executive Director of the Center for Popular Democracy, a base building organization committed to winning an innovative pro-worker, pro-immigrant, racial and economic justice agenda.

Lisa García Bedolla

Chancellor's Professor

University of California, Berkeley

Lisa García Bedolla is Chancellor’s Professor of Education and Political Science at UC Berkeley. She studies why people choose to engage politically, exploring the causes of U.S. political inequalities across the lines of ethnorace, gender, class, geography, and sexuality.

Elliot Gerson

Executive Vice President of Policy and Public Programs, International Partners

The Aspen Institute

Elliot Gerson is executive vice president at the Aspen Institute, responsible for its over 30 Policy Programs, including its cluster of programs in domestic poverty and economic opportunity, all of its public programing, and its relations with its international partners. He has run or served on many non-profit boards in Connecticut and in Washington, D.C., and for almost 20 years has run the US Rhodes Scholarships.

Angela Glover Blackwell

Founder and CEO

PolicyLink

In 1999, Angela Glover Blackwell founded PolicyLink, a national research and action institute advancing economic and social equity. Under Angela’s leadership, PolicyLink has become a leading voice for the use of policy as a means to create opportunities that enable all to achieve their full potential.

Robert Greenstein

President

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Robert Greenstein is the founder and President of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. He is considered an expert on the federal budget and a range of domestic policy issues, from anti-poverty programs and various aspects of tax policy to health reform and Social Security. He has written numerous reports, analyses, book chapters, op-ed pieces, and magazine articles on these issues.

Sarita Gupta

Executive Director, Jobs With Justice

Co-Director of Caring Across Generations

Sarita Gupta is executive director of Jobs With Justice and the co-director of Caring Across Generations. She is a nationally recognized expert on the economic, labor and political issues affecting working people across all industries, particularly women and those employed in low-wage industries. Sarita has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and Politico, as well as on MSNBC, PBS, CNBC and Fox. She writes regularly for The Huffington Post, The Hill and BillMoyers.com.

Wade Henderson

President and CEO

The Leadership Conference

Wade Henderson is the president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the nation’s premier civil and human rights coalition. The Leadership Conference is charged by its diverse membership of more than 200 national organizations to promote and protect the civil and human rights of all persons in the United States.

Mary Kay Henry

President

Service Employees International Union

Mary Kay Henry is the first woman to serve as International President of the 2 million member Service Employees International Union. Under her leadership, SEIU members are fighting for justice for working families, immigrants, and communities of color. Mary Kay was also selected as one of the top 100 most creative people in business in 2015 by Fast Company Magazine.

David R. Jones

President and CEO

Community Service Society of New York

Community Service Society of New York (CSS) is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization that promotes economic advancement and full civic participation for low-income New Yorkers. Mr. Jones, an outspoken advocate for low-income New Yorkers, writes bi-weekly newspaper columns in the New York Amsterdam News and El Diario/La Prensa and a blog on the Huffington Post website that serve to educate the public and government officials on issues of importance to minority and poor communities.

Heather McGee

President

Demos

Heather C. McGhee is President of Demos. Previously, as Vice President of Policy and Outreach, McGhee led in the substantive development of all of Demos’ issue areas, in addition to overseeing the advocacy and communications strategies. McGhee is also an influential voice in the media and an MSNBC Contributor. Her opinions, writing and research have appeared in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, National Public Radio, the Washington Post, and the New York Times.

Linda Meric

Executive Director

9to5

Linda Meric is the Executive Director of 9to5, National Association of Working Women – an inclusive, multi-racial, national membership organization founded in 1973 to strengthen the ability of low-wage and low-income women to win economic justice reforms through grassroots organizing and policy advocacy.

Lawrence Mishel

President

Economic Policy Institute

Lawrence Mishel joined the Economic Policy Institute in 1987 and become president in 2002. He has played a significant role in building EPI’s research capabilities and reputation and has written and spoken widely on the economy and economic policy as it affects middle- and low-income families.

Stacy Mitchell

Co-director

Institute for Local Self-Reliance

Stacy Mitchell is co-director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, which produces research and analysis, and partners with a range of allies to implement policies that curb corporate consolidation, strengthen community-rooted businesses, and build a more equitable and sustainable economy. She has written for a wide range of publications, including Business Week, The Nation, and Wall Street Journal.

Christine Owens

Executive Director

National Employment Law Project (NELP)

Christine Owens joined NELP as its Executive Director in January 2008. Over her long career as a workers’ rights advocate, she has held a variety of public interest and public sector positions advancing employment rights and opportunities for women, people of color and low wage workers.

Manuel Pastor

Director

USC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE)

Dr. Manuel Pastor is a Professor of Sociology, and American Studies & Ethnicity at the University of Southern California. He directs the USC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity and USC’s Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration.

Judy Patrick

Sr. Advisor

Women's Foundation of CA

Judy has worked on issues related to the economic security of women and families for the last 30 years. She is currently leading efforts in CA to pass a Women’s Economic Security Agenda in the State legislature.

Steven Pitts

Associate Chair, Center for Labor Research and Education

UC Berkeley

Steven came to the Labor Center in August of 2001 where he focuses on issues of job quality and Black workers. He has published reports on employment issues in the Black community, initiated a Black union leadership school, and shaped projects designed to build solidarity between Black and Latino immigrant workers. Currently, his major work involves providing technical assistance to effort developing Black worker centers around the country.

Nancy Rankin

Vice President for Policy Research and Advocacy

Community Service Society

Nancy Rankin leads CSS’s research and advocacy on income inequality, low-wage work, affordable housing and youth policy. Nancy has written and spoken extensively on issues affecting low-income working families. She coined the term “on-ramps” to explain the need to create ways for women who have taken time out for child-rearing to re-enter the career highway.

Maya Rockeymoore

President

Center for Global Policy Solutions

Dr. Maya Rockeymoore is dedicated to making policy work for people and their environments. With more than twenty years of experience in the government, not for profit, and business sectors, Rockeymoore has directed successful research and advocacy strategies for an array of nonprofit, philanthropic, academic and corporate clients.

Lee Saunders

President

AFSCME

Lee Saunders is the President of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO, which represents 1.6 million workers. He received a Master of Arts degree from Ohio State University in 1974, a year after earning his Bachelor of Arts degree from Ohio University. Saunders and his wife Lynne live in Washington, DC, and have two sons, Lee, Jr. and Ryan.

Joseph E. Stiglitz

Professor and Chief Economist

Columbia University

Joseph E. Stiglitz is an American economist and a professor at Columbia University. A recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (2001) and the John Bates Clark Medal (1979), he is a former senior vice president and chief economist of the World Bank and a former member and chairman of the (US president’s) Council of Economic Advisers. In 2000, Stiglitz founded the Initiative for Policy Dialogue, a think tank on international development based at Columbia University.

Neera Tanden

President & CEO

Center for American Progress

Before serving as president at CAP, Tanden worked on President Obama’s health reform team to develop and pass the Affordable Care Act. Tanden was also the director of domestic policy for the Obama-Biden campaign and served as policy director for the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, legislative director to Senator Clinton and associate director for domestic policy and senior advisor to the First Lady in the Clinton administration.

Luz Vega-Marquis

President & CEO

Marguerite Casey Foundation

Luz Vega-Marquis is president & CEO of Marguerite Casey Foundation, where she oversees the foundation’s $700 million endowment and $35 million grant-making budget. The foundation provides long-term general-support grants to organizations engaged in activism, advocacy and issue education in the 14 states with the highest concentration of family poverty.

Dorian T. Warren

Fellow

Roosevelt Institute

Dorian T. Warren is a Fellow at the Roosevelt Institute, MSNBC Contributor and MSNBC.com Host. Dorian is also Board Chair for the Center for Community Change. He is a scholar of inequality and American politics. He most recently served on the faculty at Columbia University where he co-directed the Columbia University Program on Law Labor and Policy.

Vesla M. Weaver

Associate Professor Political Science and African American Studies

Yale University

Vesla M. Weaver serves as an Associate Professor of Political Science and African American Studies and Director of the ISPS Center for the Study of inequality. She works on issues related to racial inequality, the carceral state, and democratic citizenship. She is currently a member of the Harvard/NIJ Executive Session on Community Corrections.

William Julius Wilson

Geyser University Professor

Harvard University

Dr. Wilson is the Lewis P. and Linda L. Geyser University Professor at Harvard University, one of only 24 University Professors at Harvard. He is one of the country’s pre-eminent sociologists. His views on race and urban poverty have helped shape the national policies and discourse on these topics for decades. He is also the recipient of the 1998 National Medal of Science.

Felicia Wong

President and CEO

Roosevelt Institute

Felicia Wong is the President and CEO of the Roosevelt Institute, a 21st century think tank bringing together multiple generations of thinkers and leaders to help drive key economic and social debates and have local and national impact. The Roosevelt Institute reimagines the rules to create a nation where everyone enjoys a fair share of our collective prosperity.

Teresa C. Younger

President and CEO

Ms. Foundation for Women

Teresa C. Younger is the President and CEO of the Ms. Foundation for Women. She has been on the frontlines of some of the most important battles for women’s health, safety and economic justice. She is a tireless advocate and well-respected feminist leader.